Early Present
by frozencinders
Summary: Ling Tong realized that, upon meeting Gan Ning, his life had been turned completely upside-down. Modern AU.


Ling Tong realized that, upon meeting Gan Ning, his life had been turned completely upside-down. The blond had found him at a bar shortly after his father had died. It was a peaceful passing, and Ling Tong couldn't be more grateful for that, but two things he certainly wasn't grateful for were the fact that he had to be the first to discover the man had died in his sleep, and the loneliness that came after his funeral. Gan Ning had approached him, saying something about how someone so cute (or was it beautiful..? attractive?) shouldn't look so sad. The blond had bought him a few more drinks before beginning to flirt.

Ling Tong had taken Gan Ning home with him, but he insisted he wouldn't take advantage of the brunet and was only there to keep him company. Ling Tong had appreciated it the next day when he could think clearer, and after a solid month of flirting and occasionally kissing, Ling Tong told Gan Ning he'd felt better and that he was ready to finish what they had started the night they first met. The blond was overjoyed to indulge him, and despite how naturally rough he seemed, was incredibly gentle and caring in bed. It hurt as little as Ling Tong assumed it could, and he was practically screaming how great it felt.

"The weather's shit today," Gan Ning complained as he entered through the patio door covered in small white specks of snow, interrupting Ling Tong's reminiscing. He shivered slightly, thankful that the brunet had talked him into wearing a shirt that day, but regretting that he didn't wear an extra five or so.

"I could bring out that little heater and set it in front of the couch in the den," Ling Tong suggested, standing up from his seat at the kitchen table to greet Gan Ning with a kiss. The blond wrapped his arms around the brunet, kissing all over his face just as he knew Ling Tong liked. He glanced over to the table to see that nothing but the brunet's phone was there.

"You were waiting for me, huh?" Ling Tong couldn't help but smile to match the blond's, turning to exit the kitchen. Gan Ning took off his shirt for a reason the brunet couldn't chalk up to anything but the blond being stubborn and followed him to the den, wrapping the blanket that was kept on the couch around himself but opening it for Ling Tong to sit with him.

"I was thinking again," the brunet started, sitting down beside Gan Ning and placing the heater at their feet before turning it on, "about how much you changed my life."

"You've never worded it like that before," Gan Ning noted, "finally realize how good I am for you?"

"My mother still wouldn't agree." The blond laughed at that. In his father's passing, Ling Tong was left alone, but not completely orphaned. He simply hadn't lived with his mother and didn't get to see her very often as she lived all the way in Brazil while Ling Tong had stayed in China with his father. From the one trip she made to visit him since the man's death, the woman decided she hated Gan Ning and that Ling Tong should break up with him. The brunet hadn't understood until he realized his mother was testing the blond to see if he would really value her opinion of dating her son over Ling Tong's. Of course, he didn't, and she was satisfied enough, but continued to playfully harass the man, addressing "legitimate" concerns, such as how he should wear shirts, especially to cover those "gaudy tattoos," and take out his piercings around Ling Tong, neither of which he ever liked to do.

"I still don't see why she wants the piercings gone," Ling Tong mused, playing with the blond's ear, "it's not like they're all over your face or something. I didn't even realize you had them until a few days after we met."

"Old shrew was probably trying pretty hard to find any flaws," Gan Ning joked, leaning into the touch in a way that reminded Ling Tong of the dog they once considered getting. They both decided it would be too much of a hassle to take care of one, along with the fact that dogs didn't tend to live very long in comparison to humans and that they would only be sad when it died.

"Your ears are so cold," the brunet pointed out, pulling Gan Ning's head to his chest and slowly rubbing at the blond's ears, hiding them within his sleeves. Gan Ning could have purred if it wouldn't have likely sounded like a growl.

"Rest of me's cold, too," he informed, cuddling up to Ling Tong and lazily reaching over for the remote on the coffee table. He turned the television on, flipping to the channel guide and scrolling to the few channels he was interested in. Ling Tong snorted as he looked over just in time to see that the blond's favorite cartoon wasn't on, which resulted in a click of the tongue behind him.

"I still can't believe you watch that."

"What's wrong with it?" Ling Tong gave him a long, hard look before smiling.

"How old are you?" Gan Ning squinted at him in something that wasn't quite confusion, but wasn't annoyance, either.

"We've had this conversation before," he reminded, "I'm 26. Gonna be 27 in about a month. Speaking of, what are you gonna get me?"

Ling Tong realized he hadn't really thought about what to get him and was about to tease the blond about finding him some sort of Spongebob figurine if he loved the show so much, but he heard his phone ringing from the kitchen. Reluctantly, he got up and ran to retrieve it. Gan Ning heard the steadily approaching greeting of "Alô, mãe, como vai?" The brunet had always used that for nobody but his mother, and Gan Ning swore the woman must have been the devil itself if she knew to call them so soon after she was mentioned. The conversation continued quite casually in Portuguese before Ling Tong slipped back into Chinese, probably without even noticing. Gan Ning had always found it interesting that the brunet was fluent in both languages and always had the urge to ask him to speak Portuguese to him in bed, just to see what it was like, but he wasn't quite sure how to ask.

"Yes, he's right here," Ling Tong said, and Gan Ning moved closer to try to hear what the woman on the other end was saying, "yes, he's alive."

Gan Ning knew for a fact he heard a simple "Why?" before Ling Tong started laughing, handing the phone to the blond so the two could have their weekly argument. They had argued just fine for a while before his mother apparently got tired of it, talking over Gan Ning in Portuguese, which she knew he couldn't understand. The only phrases he had picked up from Ling Tong were "hello, how are you?" and "I love you," and he certainly didn't hear either of those. The blond sighed, handing the phone back to Ling Tong, who promptly calmed his mother down before saying goodbye and relaxing with Gan Ning again.

"Why's she pretend to hate me?" he asked, confused when Ling Tong just smiled and shook his head.

"Who knows?" the brunet sighed, throwing the blanket over himself again as he cuddled up to the blond, who quickly discarded his confusion in favor of glee.

"Seriously, though, what are we gonna do for my birthday?" Gan Ning asked again, not surprising Ling Tong at all.

"Maybe we could go on a date," he suggested, "not just to a restaurant, but maybe somewhere nice that we haven't been..."

"I'm not going to a museum, if you were gonna suggest something like that," Gan Ning interrupted, quickly remembering his thought from earlier, "actually, maybe we don't have to go anywhere fancy. We'll go out to eat, and then you can do something special for me."

"Something special?" Ling Tong tilted his head, which Gan Ning couldn't find more adorable.

"I want you to speak Portuguese when we fuck," he bluntly requested, admiring the blush that found itself on the brunet's cheeks.

"I can do that any time, though," Ling Tong said, feeling himself being pulled into a laying position on top of the blond, "it's nothing special."

"'course it is," Gan Ning argued, shaking his head as he nuzzled his nose against the brunet's, "everything about you is special."

"Well, don't get all cheesy on me..."

"Thought you loved cheese," the blond joked, and Ling Tong had to admit he had a point. He was somewhat of a closet romantic, he thought, but then realized Gan Ning was referring to actual cheese and laughed.

"Maybe I'll make you cheesecake for your birthday, then," Ling Tong suggested, "and I can give you that other present tonight."

"How's right now sound?" Ling Tong smiled again, sitting up to take his shirt off to begin with. Gan Ning found the unfamiliar accent and strange words just as satisfying as he expected, and relished in the one phrase he recognized.

"Eu amo voce," and slurred variations of it were repeated into his ear more times than the blond cared to count, countering the phrase with a single "I love you," once they were done and the brunet lied exhausted under him. Ling Tong smiled, feeling no need to repeat himself yet again in either language before the words lost their meaning to his ears, simply settling for humming as he pulled the blond down for a warm nap.


End file.
